Forget and all of those places that sell those terrible things known as fast food hamburgers. The truth is that there are really great hamburgers. Sold in fine steak houses and prestigious restaurants, weighing an average of 300 grams, lightly charred on the exterior and barely pink in the center, with just the right amount of fat, spices and herbs and set either on a warm roll or a plate, and complemented by whatever condiments one chooses, a good hamburger can be a thing of joy.

Precisely how one garnishes his or her hamburger sandwich depends to a great extent on where they come from. Californians like piccalilli relish, mustard and chili sauce on their hamburgers; New Yorkers enjoy adding sliced raw onion, tomato and ketchup; residents of the New England states thrive on fried onions with their burgers; and the good folk of Louisiana could probably not survive the traumas of life without a healthy smattering of Tabasco sauce on their hamburgers. Many Americans and Englishmen enjoy a slice or two of crisp bacon on their burgers, and the French tend to serve them with lightly piquant sauces based on red wine. Whatever, following are my nominees for those restaurants serving the best hamburgers in the world today.

The Grill Room of The Ritz Carlton Hotel: 15 Arlington Street, Boston. Tel: 617: 536-5700.

Smith & Wollensky , 49th Street and 3rd Ave., New York City. Tel: 212: 753-1530.

Peter Luger, 178 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York. Tel: 718 387-7400.

Gotham Bar and Grill, 12 E. 12th St, NY Tel: 212 620-40200

Buckhead Diner: 3073 Piedmont Road, Atlanta, Georgia. Tel: (404) 262-3336.

Joe Allen, 30 rue Pierre-Lescot, 1st Arrondisement, Paris. Tel: 42.36.70.13.

Chez Jacky: 9 - 11 rue Necker. Geneva.

Chesa Veglia: via Veglia 2, St. Moritz. Tel 082 2 11 01.

Cafe de Paris: Place du Casino, Monte Carlo. Tel 92.16.20.20.

Le Bistroy: 3 place Camille-Hostein, Bouiliac (3 km from Bordeaux) Tel: 57 97 06 06.

Caffe Fiaschetteria Italiana, Montalcino (Tuscany). No address and no telephone, but anyone in town will tell you how to find this charming place. Perhaps the only place in the world where you can taste and compare up to 24 different Brunello de Montalcino wines by the glass while you munch on your hamburger.

© Daniel Rogov